"No, you can't just- ugh, you don't understand," Harry sighs, his head falling in his hands as I look over the paper sheet he'd tried explaining his plan on again. And again, I can't do it without frowning at the control freak sitting opposite of me, or the yellow-ish piece of paper that's basically drowning in his scribbles.

"You're right, I really don't," I say in a flat tone, throwing the paper in his direction as I lift my empty cup in a waitress's direction, signaling I want a refill.

"Look," He starts again, looking beyond focused as he stares at his little work of art. "If you call the police and report him out of the blue, without him doing anything in particular- he's going to know I have something to do with it, okay? Even if I've nothing with it, he's going to decide that I do and he's going to give me a piece of his mind. Like that time when you reported he dragged Freya out of your party?"

Harry raises his refilled cup of coffee to his lips, as I raise my brows at him. I didn't know he knew about that? "He broke into my apartment while I was at school, trashed it and took all of the money I saved for rent."

He takes another gulp of his coffee, while I continue staring at him; that should sound more disturbing, but his casual face assures me that there's nothing to be worried about. "Had to work 105 hours a week in the bakery, for a month straight. I missed a lot of school and sleep, but at least I could afford a roof over my head."

I blink at him a few times; I swear I should be more aghast about his apartment, but for some reason I find being awake for 105 hours for four weeks a lot more horrifying. "Um... I'm sorry?"

"What for?" He looks up at me with a small smirk, identical to his sister's. God, I need to see her again.

"You know... it's basically my fault that you got robbed in the first place, so..." I shift in my seat, a little uncomfortable; saying that outloud makes me feel more guilty than just being aware of it. "I'm sorry."

"No problem," Harry tells me in a cool tone, looking over the sheet in his hand again. "I finished on Sunday, and I didn't go to school on Monday either. Slept through the entire day."

I grimace as he chuckles; I am dying to know if there's anything that makes this guy's hands shake with fear, or anger. Except for Craig, of course. I've already made a mental note not to let him near knives when we're talking about his sister's not-exactly-boyfriend. "Okay," I say slowly, deciding that I'm forgiven. Kind of. I still feel the need to make up for his home. "So... we're going with your plan either way?"

Harry sighs as he brings his cup to his lips, reminding me of my coffee too. "That's the only way anything will work. And he has anger issues, so there's no way we'll fail."

I gulp, feeling my heart rate increase just the slightest as I watch Harry's serene face under the dim light of the diner. Why did I not know Craig has anger issues? How could he just leave that out? "Alright," I reply slowly, waiting for any sort of reaction from him but not getting anything. "So now I just have to find a friend that's gonna call the police while I do the work so-"

"What?" Harry cuts me off, his eyes wide as he stares at me in disbelief. Of all the things that we're eye-widening worthy, this is where he does it? "Are you insane? I can't let you do the hard work, you'll get-"

"And what, you expect me to get one of my mates in danger?" I interrupt him, a little frustrated that he hadn't realized I would be doing the 'hard work'. "Trust me, none of them care about me enough to get themselves in such a mess."

Harry blinks at that, seeming shocked by what I'd just told him, and sitting back in the red bench of our booth. "She's gonna kill me if something happens to you, you know that?" He gives me a cautious look, "I'm not kidding, she wouldn't have a problem breaking my limbs if you weren't in perfect shape as you are now."

Pursing my lips, I shrug and look down at the ceramic cup, that has a bit of a beige glint in the light hanging over us. "I want to do it myself," I admit, refusing to face him and continuing to look at my cup of coffee. "I want her to know how much I care for her."

I clear my throat loudly, sitting up and still looking at my cup. If this wasn't a serious moment, I'm sure Harry would be laughing on the floor at my cheesiness. "There are other ways you can show her you care for her, you don't have to do this," He says quietly, and just as awkwardly as I spoke a minute before.

I snort, shaking my head as I finally look up at him. "Look, I'm probably not gonna be able to afford expensive jewelry, or-or designer dresses or any of that junk for another ten years. If she still has any doubts or trust issues, this is the perfect way to end that shit."

Harry nods firmly, being the one to look down at his cup now. "Just remember, if you get yourself in the hospital because you wanted to play Superman, you tell her it was your decision and that I couldn't stop you. I need my limbs."

I chuckle as Harry takes a loud sip of his coffee, running my hands through my hair. "Ugh, okay, we got that settled, I just need to ask someone to be my partner. It is a strip club, so that's gonna be easy."

"Pick someone who's met her," Harry offers, "Have you introduced her to any of your friends?"

"Yeah, one, but luckily he's my best friend, so that's settled too."

He nods again, with a small sigh. "Now we just... have to pick a night. This week?"

Gulping unnoticeably, I nod Harry's way. This is going to happen in three to five days. Oh boy. "You can pick a day."

"Saturday?" I suggest, earning a shrug from him. I shrug too, settling for Saturday.

"Okay. I'll be at my place, just... praying that you make it out alive," He says, barely containing his humorous smile as he speaks. It takes me a second to remember that he's banned from the club his sister works at, so that's why he can't be there. That's also why I need Seth to call the police instead of him, yes, it all makes sense now.

"Call me if you're conscious after the whole thing, alright?"

"You're not funny, Harry."

"Yeah, I get told that a lot."

I chuckle as I sit back in my seat and watch him, his face carefree and his body slightly shaking since he's kicking his legs under the table. I should know, he's kicked me in the bad knee several times. I swear there's no way he's only a few months younger than me, other eighteen year olds must look at him like he belongs in childcare.

"Ooh, they're playing Kodaline," He chirps in a high-pitched voice, looking up at the ceiling as he kicks his legs harder, kicking me in the process. Harder than the other seventeen times he'd done it.

"God dammit Harry," I growl through gritted teeth as I reach for my knee, earning an apologetic but grinning face from him. "I'm gonna fucking kill you if you do it again."

"Mhm, if you don't get killed first," He mumbles against the edge of his cup, wiggling his eyebrows at me as I shake my head at him. Nope, no way he's five months younger than me. He's a fucking eight year old in a giant teenager's body.

*******

The white wooden door swings open, and I take a few seconds before looking up from my sneakers at the lovely face in front of me. The way her face changes from startled to confused to happy makes me smile. I only pull my hands out of my pockets when she takes two large steps forward, to wrap her warm arms around my significantly colder body.

"Hi," She laughs lightly as she pulls away, her eyes wide with excitement while she slides her hands to my chest. "I had no idea you'd come."

And the way she's looking at me right now is making me think that I should show up unannounced more often. "Thought I'd drop by," I smile back. I remember clearly her telling me that Craig leaves for work at noon, so I made sure to visit her in the afternoon. "Is that okay?"

"No, that's brilliant," She tells me quickly, covering her face with her hand, embarrassed at how eager she sounded as we walk back inside her apartment. I chuckle to myself, mostly looking down at the wooden floor while she closes the door and locks it, and then looks at me.

"Well," Freya sighs, making me finally look up at her as she straightens her washed out band shirt, and then her grey skinny jeans. "I had no idea you were coming so it's only natural that I look like shit. Give me five minutes, you have beer and soda in the fridge and you can find somethi-"

"Hey," I frown with a smile, as I grab her wrist, preventing her from going to the bathroom. "I don't- I don't want you putting make up whenever I'm around," I laugh, still frowning; somewhat shocked that she actually feels the need to do that whenever I call, telling her I'm on my way.

"Are you sure?" She asks slowly, raising her brows as she takes a few careful steps toward me; and I notice some changes that I hadn't seen before, like her eyes being free of the heavy eyeliner she wears all the time, the barely visible freckles across her cheekbones, her chapped lips their natural pale pink color, instead of the bright-ish red that they are all the time.

With a small sigh I take her other wrist, pulling her body until it's against mine. She's already beginning to smile as I lean down to kiss her, slowly, savoring the taste of watermelon on her lips rather than the slight bitterness of her lipstick. I feel like the only reason she got closer to me is so that I'd see her flaws and let her hide them with make up – ha. It's like she's met me yesterday. But then again, I'm just realizing that I don't tell her how beautiful I think she is as much as I should.

Freya is the first one to pull away, inspecting my face. "See?" She starts, sounding annoyed? "You're frowning, Niall, excuse me."

I grip her wrist, causing her to crash into my body again since she's already started marching to the bathroom, and place another kiss on her lips, harder but shorter. The only reason I'm frowning is because of my last thought. That changes now.

"No," I mumble against her lips, before fully pulling away. "I think you're beautiful, just like that." I give her a small, but reassuring smile, and it takes her a few seconds to smile back, hopefully sure that I'm telling the truth. "Now go get us beer and I'll be waiting for you on your sofa."

I've had half a mind to add 'naked' at the end of that sentence, just to mess with her, but I decide not to. She rolls her eyes, turning around and I take the chance to smack her butt before she goes to the kitchen; she squeaks at that and looks over her shoulder, but I've already started casually walking to the living room. I'm sure that was an 'if looks could kill' moment.

"Did you come straight from school?" Freya asks a minute later as she enters the room, and I throw my arm behind the couch; she gets the hint and places the beer bottle in my hand, walking around to sit next to me as I bring it to my lips.

"Mhm," I hum, taking the bottle in my other hand and throwing my free arm around her. "What're we watching?"

"Well, I was watching the news, so you can choose," She hands me the remote and I take another gulp of my beer before reaching to put it on the coffee table, and take the small object from her hand. I clear my throat as I flip through channels, sitting back in my seat and subconsciously lowering my head onto her shoulder. I feel Freya breathe out a laugh and reach to cup the side of my face that's not pressed against her shirt, and I kiss the small amount of exposed skin in return.

As she kisses the top of my head and leans hers against mine, I realize; this is exactly how I'd want us to be if we lived together. I've never lived with anyone but my family and frat brothers, but this is what I expect in a few days, when Harry's plan – hopefully – works and Craig is behind bars.

I settle for some TV show that I've never even seen – which is shocking for me – but just because I've started feeling nauseous upon remembering Harry's plan. If everything goes well, the way we talked about it last night in that diner, I wouldn't have to visit his sister anymore. I'm partly feeling nauseous because I don't know how she'd feel about it, but there's no way I can let her know about anything. Quoting Harry, 'she's going to have to live with it, and you, whether she likes it or not'.

"Hey," I speak up after a minute, lifting my head off her shoulder. "Can I ask you something?"

"And I don't punch you for it?" She finishes my question as she watches me and I watch the TV, laughs coming from both of us at her words.

"No, I'm- I'm serious," I say in a casual tone, leaning my head to the side but not enough to reach her shoulder, still looking at her TV. "Would you ever... you know, consider living with someone? Other than... the person you're living with now?"

I look at her when she says nothing for a few seconds, to see that her lips are parted, and a blank expression on her face. "If you're talking about yourself and I'm pretty sure that you are, you know it's impossible."

"Yeah, but," I start again, before she could assume anything. "Hypothetically speaking, like, if you could, would you?"

She blinks at me a couple of times, keeping quiet for another few seconds, making my heart speed up just a bit. Then her parted lips form a grin, and I'm given a glimmer of hope. "Well," She begins, pausing to make me want to rip my hair out even more. "If you're talking about yourself and I'm pretty sure that you are... yeah."

I raise my brows, taking my beer and raising to my lips so that she wouldn't see how badly I actually want to smile at that. "Yeah?" I ask.

"Yeah." She chuckles, taking my bottle from me so she could sit up and kiss me. I part her lips with my tongue and wide smile; at least she's not going to hate that part of Harry's plan.

I pull her closer to me, sighing into our kiss as she places both hands against my body. Another thing that I love about us is that I'm perfectly fine with just kissing her. I literally don't feel the need for anything else. If I went to a psychic and they told me she wouldn't sleep with me until this time next year, I don't think I'd have a problem with that. In a way, I've been more intimate with her than most of the girls I've slept with. Intimacy isn't purely physical, and I'm beyond happy I've found someone to make me truly believe that.

"Can I..." I start, but wait for her to pull away so I'd continue. "Can I ask something again?"

"Am I gonna-"

"No, you're not going to punch me for it," I finish for her, my voice loud as she starts laughing. Well, hopefully she won't. "Could you... not wear make up when you're with me?"

I raise my brows slightly as she raises hers even higher, looking at me genuinely shocked. "What? You actually don't mind seeing me like this?"

"No," I answer immediately, laughing lightly. "I kind of prefer this. I mean, you look... you're really pretty either way, but... I dunno, I just like you like this. Like I really like you like this, you... you're..."

The word is begging to leave my mouth, but I don't really know how she'd feel about it. Though the look in her eyes and the small subconscious nods she's giving me are encouraging me to continue. "Do it," She almost whispers, "Say it."

I gulp, "You're perfect."

She lets out a breath she's obviously been holding, smiling like she's just heard the words she's been dying to hear her whole life. Instead of kissing me – which I was honestly expecting – she lifts a cold, slender finger to the tip of my nose to rest it there for a few seconds, before beginning to slide it downwards. "You're pretty good yourself."

I breathe out a laugh as I feel her finger against my lips; I part my lips, purposely sticking my tongue out a bit until it touches the base of her finger. She frowns for a second, but then widens her eyes when she sees what I'm doing – her eyes widen even more and her jaw looks like it's going to meet the floor any second now, when I boldly lick up her finger and eventually pull it in my mouth. By now she's got this frustrated frown on her face that's impossible not to laugh at.

I pull back a bit and grin at her, now only her fingertip between my teeth. "You were saying?"

Freya stiffly pulls her hand away from my face, enabling me to properly laugh at her. I have no idea where that came from, and it's natural that she's shocked. I'd probably be excusing myself and going to a different room if she'd done something like that. "I was- I was saying..."

"Yes?" I urge her on, in the sweetest and deepest voice I could muster, nuzzling my nose against her earlobe. She finally lets out a deep breath, shaking her head frantically.

"Fuck you Niall," She spits, her voice loud and flat, causing me to shut my eyes tightly and throw my head back in laughter. Nice way to ruin a moment. "Fuck you and your stupid mouth so much, Niall, that's what I was saying."

Still chuckling, I reach to kiss her shoulder, a bit scared of what she might do about it but she's only staring at the TV with her arms crossed. Obviously I know she's not actually angry, or anything; which is exactly why I'm gonna be doing that a lot after Saturday.

I lift my head until my lips are against her ear again, and without asking if I can say something and she doesn't punch me for it, I whisper, "You could do that too."

*******

guess what

she punched him for that last bit

sooooo it's seven am and i have school in an hour and idek what to say, just please vote, comment, leave feedback? i love you :)